


Open up my cage and teach me how to fly

by orphan_account



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-27
Updated: 2014-03-29
Packaged: 2018-01-17 04:58:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1374676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sara Lance never gets on The Gambit with Oliver Queen. Months later, while drinking vodka with Laurel, she decides she wants to make the city a better place. With her sister by her side, she starts fighting for what she believes it's right.<br/>Of course, she never imagined she was going to meet Helena Bertinelli and Felicity Smoak, and that together they would form a perfect team. This team, that fights crime while wearing really cute shoes, is called Birds of Prey.</p><p>Birds of Prey AU // Serie of drabbles (maybe not chronological, but all in the same universe).</p><p>DISCONTINUED.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Canary and Her Shadow

**Author's Note:**

> What to expect: Lance sisters fighting crime, loving each other; Helena and Sara being in a relationship; Felicity Smoak turning their world upside down. Oliver Queen returning home to "save his city" only to find that Starling already has its own group of saviors.
> 
>  
> 
> [important notes (a.k.a how it all began)](http://naleys.tumblr.com/post/80627805750/jaegermighty-naleys-submitted-okay-so-its) | [more stuff related to this au](http://naleys.tumblr.com/tagged/birds-of-prey-au)

It happened like this: There was vodka involved.

“Last night I helped a girl, kicked some creep in the nuts,” Sara said, “I want to do it again.”

Laurel just shrugged, “Why don’t you? What’s stopping you?”

“I’m not some sort of superhero, jerk. I just want to help.”

“You can do anything if you want to,” she said. “You’re Sara Fucking Lance, nothing has stopped you before from doing what you want to do.”

Sara didn’t look away from the bottom of her glass, but she smiled.

“Well, I’m going to need some company…” she trailed off.

And Laurel realized she was fucked.

-

“We can’t just start walking around the city in killer shoes and defending people!”

“Of course not, silly,” Sara winked, “We need to find a place so we can have a lair and a good suit…”

Laurel just stood there, speechless.

“And we need to learn how to do all these awesome stuff, like jumping from rooftops and do backflips and some parkour…”

“Sara, honey, no…”

“That’s Canary for you.”

-

In the end, Sara’s enthusiasm was contagious. They found an old building; it was isolated and has a big tower with a clock. _Perfect_ , Sara thought.

“Canaries jumping from clocks, very _time_ ly.”

“Sara, _don’t_.”

-

“I could never do this without you,” Sara said, looking right into the eyes of her older sister.

“You could, but you won’t have to,” she replied, “I’ll be here with you, every step you take… I’ll be right behind you, like a shadow, ready to catch you if you ever fall.”

“Shadow. _Black_ Canary,” the blonde’s eyes filled with an epiphany, “You think you’re so clever.”

“I’m the cleverest.”

-

The first month was the most difficult; they were not quite as strong and fast as they needed to be, they failed a lot and they felt the crushing disappointment more often than not, but it didn’t shake their spirits. Something had awaken inside them, and it never would go back to sleep.

They needed justice and they worked hard every day to get it. Lances didn’t know how to give up, they were stubborn and they wouldn’t renounce that easily.  A few sprained wrists were nothing compared to the satisfaction of leaving a rapist tied up in front of their dad’s precinct.

Both of them learned how to deal with the pain and basic medical stuff. Laurel was better with stitches but that was just because Sara never gave up the fight even if it was too dangerous, thus ending with more wounds that either of them cared to admit.

Sometimes Laurel would stay awake all night just thinking that she had to protect Sara better next time. Sara was her little sister and she wanted her to be safe.

But you can’t put the Canary in a cage. Sara needed the fight, the air in her hair as she delivered a particularly strong blow to their chosen target.

Sara needed the long patrols, walking on rooftops and jumping like she was flying.

And Laurel needed, most of all, to see Sara happy.


	2. Hello Stranger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or, the night it all changed forever.

-

Eight months after they started their crusade, their dynamic changed forever.

It was a cold night, Laurel was still working but that didn’t matter to Sara. She had managed to get valuable information about the Italian mafia and that couldn’t wait for her sister. Frank Bertinelli was part of it. The Italian mafia had taken the life of an innocent girl in a crossfire with The Triad, and she couldn’t wait to make each one of them pay.

Laurel was going to kill her when she realized she wasn’t in the tower, she hated when Sara went on missions all by herself.

Getting past the guards was easier than breathing, since they were a bunch of incompetents, but inside there was something she never expected.

 _Someone_ she never expected.

-

She remembers hearing Helena’s voice and mentally saying goodbye to Laurel.

_I’m sorry, I should’ve waited for you._

But when the fog that clouded her mind cleared, she realized that the woman was smiling. Well, smirking.

“Did you come here to arrest my daddy?” she asked calmly, the smirk still in place on her intriguing face.

And Sara told the truth, even though she still can’t remember what compelled her to do it.

“Yes.”

“You can’t do that, sweetheart,” the brunette said, her eyes cold as ice in that moment. She took a step closer and Sara backed away, assuming a defensive position. “No, you’re not getting it. You can’t turn him in, because that honor belongs to _me_.”

She stood silent for an entire minute.

“Now, let’s get you out of that leather and into some normal clothes so you can meet the man before the cops get here.”

Putting her left arm around Sara’s shoulder, Helena turned to look at her and her face was suddenly alight with a smile. “I’ve been keeping track of your word, little bird. Who did you think helped you get the information?” she winked, “Oh, we’re going to have so much fun together.”

-

That night Laurel really did get mad at Sara, but that was just because she brought a random girl to the Clock Tower.

“This is not a game. She could’ve been waiting until you trusted her so she could kill us both!”

Helena watched the confrontation in silence, sitting in the floor with an amused smile in place.

“Well, of course that was a very big possibility, but I discarded it when she handed her father to the police an hour ago and then she proceeded to buy me some ice cream.”

“Of  course!” Laurel shouted, “All it takes it’s some ice cream! You’re so predictable!”

But just then Helena opened a box of macaroons and Laurel realized that she was fucked.

-

(It actually took six months for Laurel to warm up to Helena, but somehow they made it work).


	3. There's beauty in the breakdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laurel has the chance to look inside Helena's soul, and what she sees makes her sure that they are more similar then they thought.

At first, Laurel and Helena didn’t get along well, leaving Sara to be the peacemaker most often than not. But things changed one night, when Laurel and Helena had a conversation that Sara never knew about.

Sara was getting some takeout, since it was her turn that time, and that left the other two thirds of their team all alone in the Clock Tower. Usually that meant uncomfortable silence, but not that night.

Helena was crying. Laurel didn’t notice it at first, mostly because it was subtle and very low, it was the kind of crying that you couldn’t stop even if you wanted to, the kind of crying were you were too sad to make a sound, but there was a moment when she turned around and caught the glint of a tear in Helena’s cheek, regret coloring her features.

“I should’ve killed him, you know,” she said. Laurel didn’t dare say anything in response; she just stood there, speechless, watching the usually stoic girl cry. “My father should be dead.”

Laurel had always thought there was certain darkness about Helena, just a spark of _something_ in her eyes from time to time, but only in that moment did she realize that it was actually grief. She was consumed by grief and regret.

“Why?” she heard herself ask, even though she didn’t mean to.

“He killed the only man I’ve ever loved.”

Those words clung to Laurel’s soul in a way she never imagined could be possible, and most of her apathy for Helena disappeared without leaving trace. The sadness washed over her dark faces, the eyeliner making tracks on her cheeks, and in that moment she was more beautiful than Laurel had ever seen her before.

She bent her knees and put her arms around Helena, almost without thinking, and was surprised when she felt the brunette’s arms close around her torso and clasp in her back. It felt like the embrace two old friends would share, but it also felt right. That conversation built many bridges in less than ten minutes, and a newfound sense of togetherness enveloped them in that moment.

That’s how Sara found them minutes later, Helena crying softly in Laurel’s arms, her sister tracing comforting paths of Helena’s back, caressing her hair and whispering things that neither of them can recall.

Sara’s first instinct was to make a witty comment about the new development, but her heart decided against it. She didn’t want to ruin the moment.

So she only said, “Am I the only one here that’s hungry?” and smiled. Everything was going to be okay. They were a team now. Partners.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be probably more focused on Sara. But I've become fascinated by the dinamic between Laurel and Helena, so I couldn't help myself.


	4. with a heavy heart she took her hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Look, whatever it is. Suck it up and come with me, we have to patrol this shitty city,” she said, standing up and offering her hand to Sara. Somehow the moment felt heavier than it actually was, maybe because she felt that Helena knew exactly what was bothering her, but she took her hand anyway.

It wasn’t until much later that Sara realized she didn’t have a real reason to do this. She kept trying to deny it, but the truth was that she started this vigilante thing not only to help other people, but to help herself too; the feeling that invaded her when she helped that girl, the first time she helped someone in those kind of situations, was something that stuck with her long after it had happened. Was it selfish, to do this because she felt like she _belonged_ when she did it? Shouldn’t she be in it for the people?  She was selfish sometimes, she knew that for sure, but she wasn’t sure if this was one of these times. She didn’t want it to be, she wanted to be different. She wanted to be better.

“Little bird!” Helena screamed in her ear, making Sara fall on her butt, “What are you so gloomy about?”

“Don’t call me that!” she snapped. Helena just laughed.

“Sure, Little Bird, no more calling you gloomy when it’s obvious the sun shines out of your ass,” she said.

"I meant 'Little Bird', stop it, it's annoying."

Normally Helena would have teased her about how she actually liked the nickname (which wasn't _entirely_ false) but she only sat next to her, her knee touching her thigh; she felt the touch even through the leather of her suit, but she didn’t dare to think about the implications of _that_. Instead, she chose to focus on Helena’s face, which wasn’t an entirely good idea but it was still better, and her warm eyes; she had changed a lot in the time she has spent with Sara and Laurel, becoming softer somehow but never leaving her true nature behind.

(She was especially softer with Sara, but that’s another thing she didn’t think about.)

“Look, just... Suck it up and come with me, we have to patrol this shitty city,” she said, standing up and offering her hand to Sara. Somehow the moment felt heavier than it actually was, maybe because she felt that Helena knew exactly what was bothering her, but she took her hand anyway.

When she was standing, Helena smiled. “It’s okay to be selfish sometimes, you know. Don’t let it keep you awake at night, because everyone is selfish from time to time. I don’t think that you are selfish because you’re doing this for you, though, but I know I can’t change your mind about it if you feel that way.”

“How did you know?” she asks, her voice breaking a little even though she tried to stop it.

“BC had the same freak out three days ago,” she smirked, “She thought she was being selfish because the only reason she’s doing this is you.”

“I don’t know what’s more ridiculous: Laurel, of all people, thinking she’s being selfish or your nicknames,” she rolled her eyes, but smiled all the same.

“Point is, the people you help doesn’t care about your reasons, they only feel grateful that you helped them. They don’t ask for your motives, they only feel relief when you set them free. You need to understand that, or you will feel guilty about a selfishness that _just isn’t there_.”

“Thank you.”

“What? You think I’m doing this out of the goodness of my heart? No. Sorry to break it to you, Little Bird, but you have to buy me breakfast tomorrow.”

“Whatever, bitch,” she said, pushing Helena away. Sure, Helena was a pessimistic jerk most of the time, but she knew exactly how to brighten her day.


End file.
